18/12/2007 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights today made public the following statement: "The Committee considers it its duty to join in the campaign to have Ingrid Betancourt released from captivity. It solemnly calls upon the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to free Ingrid Betancourt without further delay."
18/12/2007 | Election observation
Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE), Head of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Delegation that will observe Georgia's 5 January presidential elections, today gave a press conference at the Council of Europe Paris Office on the results of his recent visit to Tblissi and with a view of the forthcoming elections.
18/12/2007 | President
PACE President René van der Linden will make an official visit to Russia from 19 to 22 December 2007. In Moscow, he will notably meet with the Speaker of Russia's Federation Council, Sergey Mironov, the Speaker of the State Duma, Boris Gryzlov, the First Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev (to be confirmed), and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sergeï Lavrov. He will also have talks with the leaders of the political groups in the State Duma, as well as with representatives of the opposition not represented in the Parliament.
17/12/2007 | Bureau
While the 2007 Duma elections were to a great extent free in terms of a variety of voting options, they were definitely not fair, according to the report on the parliamentary elections in the Russian Federation prepared by Luc Van den Brande, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee, that was today approved by the Bureau of the Assembly. According to the text, the authorities should investigate all allegations of fraud and irregularities and, if those allegations are confirmed, bring those responsible to justice.
17/12/2007 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
An EU proposal to fix at 18 months the maximum period of detention for irregular migrants in Europe “flies in the face of humanity”, according to the Chair of PACE's Migration Committee. Speaking on International Migrants Day, 18 December, Mevlüt Çavusoglu said the EU’s Returns Directive was equivalent to “locking up irregular migrants and throwing away the key”.
13/12/2007 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Azerbaijan’s abuse of defamation laws to put pressure on journalists in Azerbaijan has been condemned by PACE's Legal Affairs Committee in a declaration adopted today. The committee protested in particular at the imprisonment of the journalists Ilgar Nasibov and Eynulla Fatullayev earlier this year.
12/12/2007 | Political Affairs and Democracy
The potential for finding a compromise between Belgrade and Pristina over Kosovo’s future status has been exhausted, according to PACE's Political Affairs Committee. The UN Security Council should now overcome existing differences and impose a solution, the committee said in a draft resolution adopted yesterday, but if it was incapable of achieving a unanimous position, it was “not to be excluded” that Kosovo would make a unilateral declaration of independence. In this case, the EU should “endeavour to achieve a single position” towards such a declaration.
11/12/2007 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
“Political leaders are responsible for ensuring that culture is handed down to future generations at school. It is therefore essential to promote the teaching of major examples of European literature in senior secondary schools and all study courses” said Jacques Legendre (France, EPP/CD), Chair of the PACE Committee on Culture, Science and Education, at the opening of a colloquy on the teaching of European literature being held by the Committee at the French Senate.
11/12/2007 | Political Affairs and Democracy
PACE's Political Affairs Committee, meeting in Paris today, condemned the twin bomb blasts in Algiers, including one at the headquarters of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. “While it is not yet clear who was behind these attacks, the deliberate targeting of aid workers and students is contemptible,” said the committee’s First Vice-Chair Konstantin Kosachev (Russian Federation, EDG). “A terrorist attack on innocents is no way to achieve political goals.”
10/12/2007 | Prizes
The Council of Europe Museum Prize for 2008 has been awarded to the Svalbard Museum in Longyearbyen, Norway. Located in Spitzbergen, the museum is the northernmost museum in the world, displaying Svalbard’s 400-year history and explaining the factors which help support life and activities in the Arctic. It also explores the close relationship between the land and the sea, and between natural and cultural history. The jury was impressed by the dynamic and holistic approach of the museum by its design, and by its key message of environmental awareness.
10/12/2007 | President
PACE President René van der Linden today welcomed the unanimous decision by the Ministers of Justice of the European Union (EU) to establish a “European Day against the Death Penalty” on the 10th October each year. “This unanimous vote, made possible by the change of government in Poland, sends out a very clear message beyond our borders to other parts of the world, which should follow the European example”, said René van der Linden, pointing out that the 47 Council of Europe member states formed a death-penalty-free area.
10/12/2007 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Is there such a thing as a “European” literature which can be taught to students? How is this affected by the politics of translation and distribution? Could there be a “common textbook” for young Europeans on their shared literary heritage?